Republicans are becoming more open to marriage equality and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples

According to new surveys, Republicans are becoming more open to marriage equality and civil unions.

A CBS News/New York Times poll released Monday found that 49 percent of the delegates to the Republican convention support allowing same-sex marriages or civil unions. Prior to these results, a similar CNN/Opinion Research Poll – conducted in May – found that nearly half of delegates surveyed supported either same-sex marriages or civil union. Twenty-four percent supported same-sex marriages, while 27 percent backed civil unions. Forty-three percent backed neither option.